I've always liked the 99, so it was on the 'Maybe someday' list. As luck would have it, a friend had one he wanted to sell off... a 99F in that newfangled .308WIN cartridge. I only considered it a buy it, shoot it, sell it type of rifle... but I found it was All That and a bag of chips once I started shooting it. I took it to Wyoming this summer and was hitting steel gongs at 600yds no problem with cast 170grn bullets. Even though it has a hunting-weight barrel, it does well under sustained fire, and the top-loading magazine is super-bonus... far easier to load than even a side loading gate. I've mounted a Williams receiver peep on mine, it's about as good a rifle as can be, and is a joy to shoot. It's kicked two other rifles out of the safe, including my early '70's 336 in .30-30.... it's that good.